Here, she started to paint the picture and she has been painting for a period of time during the day, but in the moment of speaking she has not finished painting the picture.

We can measure the duration of the progressive action with "how long?" and with "for/since". Eg:

I have been studying English for five years. (He estado estudiando inglés durante cinco años)

How long have you been studying the present perfect continuous? (¿Cuánto tiempo has estado estudiando el presente perfecto continuo?)

We sometimes use the present perfect continuous to express a continuous action in the past that has recently finished. Eg:

I've been playing football. (He estado jugando al fútbol)

This example means that "I" have just finished an action that was continuous in the past.

The present perfect continuous can also be used to express something the speaker has been meaning to do for a while, an intention or thought. Eg:

She has been trying to get hold of you for hours. (Ella ha estado intentando ponerse en contacto contigo durante horas)

We have been thinking of phoning them. (Hemos estado pensando en llamarlos)

Lets us conjugate a verb as an example. We are going to take the verb "to study".

Positive
Negative
Question

I have been studying haven't been studying have I been studying? You have been studying haven't been studying have I been studying? He has been studying hasn't been studying has he been studying? She has been studying hasn't been studying has she been studying? It has been studying hasn't been studying has it been studying? We have been studying haven't been studying have we been studying? You (all) have been studying haven't been studying have you been studying? They have been studying haven't been studying have they been studying?

Learn English Verbs Practice.

If you haven't already done so, download our English Verb Conjugator and practice what you have learnt here with the 10 suggested verbs below. Let's see how many correct answers you get.

mark move note ski suit taste eat flee inlay

To form the present perfect simple tense we need the present simple tense of the verb "to have" and the past participle of another verb. To form the past participle of the regular verbs we add "-ed" to the verb. Eg: